The disclosure relates to a network entity for selecting a communication relay from a plurality of communication relays within the service area of a base station covering a plurality of geographic positions, wherein each communication relay is able to retransmit a communication between the base station and a user equipment, wherein the network entity comprises a divider configured to divide the service area into a plurality of different regions based on an attenuation measure at each geographic position, a determiner configured to determine for each pair of regions a spatial isolation measure based on the attenuation measures at the geographic positions within the regions, and a selector configured to select a communication relay based on the spatial isolation measures associated with the geographic position of each communication relay.

Systems, methods, and software described herein provide enhancements for deploying applications in spaceborne and airborne systems, among others. In one example, an airborne or spaceborne physical node comprises a communication interface configured to receive software payloads, and logistical control elements of the physical node. The physical node further comprises a virtualized execution system configured to execute ones of the software payloads deployed on the physical node as associated virtual nodes that share resources of the physical node.

Beamforming for radio communication (uplink) from a relay apparatus to a donor base station is performed accurately. A relay apparatus 20 is a relay apparatus 20 for relaying communication between a terminal device 10 and a donor base station 30 and includes: an amplitude and phase measurement unit 25 that measures an amplitude and phase of radio communication from the donor base station 30 to the relay apparatus 20; and a beam adjuster 27 that performs beamforming with respect to the donor base station 30 by adjusting amplitudes and phases from a plurality of antennas used at the relay apparatus 20 by measuring the amplitude and the phase by using the amplitude and phase measurement unit 25, wherein during a time slot when the terminal device 10 does not exist in a service area of the relay apparatus 20, the relay apparatus 20 detects no existence of the terminal device 10 in the service area and stops access radio, the amplitude and phase measurement unit 25 measures the amplitude and the phase, and the beam adjuster 27 performs the beamforming with respect to the donor base station 30, after which the access radio is restarted.

Adaptive communications focal plane arrays that may be implemented in, e.g., a specially-configured camera that can be utilized to receive and/or process information in the form of optical beams are presented. A specialized focal plane array (FPA) having a plurality of optical detectors is utilized, where one or more optical detectors are suppressed such that data is not allowed to be output from the one or more suppressed optical detectors, and only a significantly smaller number or subset of optical detectors receiving optical beams are allowed to output data. In this way, the rate at which data is to be output by an adaptive communications FPA (ACFPA) can be significantly reduced.

Adaptive communications focal plane arrays that may be implemented in, e.g., a specially-configured camera that can be utilized to receive and/or process information in the form of optical beams are presented. A specialized focal plane array (FPA) having a plurality of optical detectors is utilized, where one or more optical detectors are suppressed such that data is not allowed to be output from the one or more suppressed optical detectors, and only a significantly smaller number or subset of optical detectors receiving optical beams are allowed to output data. In this way, the rate at which data is to be output by an adaptive communications FPA (ACFPA) can be significantly reduced.

Redundancy architectures for communications systems are provided. An example redundancy architecture includes a plurality of active radio-frequency (RF) hardware units, one or more RF signal splitters configured to couple a plurality of RF input signals to the plurality of active RF hardware units, and one or more RF signal combiners configured to couple RF signals processed by the plurality of active RF hardware units to a plurality of RF output paths. The one or more RF signal splitters are configured to split each RF input signal of the plurality of RF input signals into multiple copies of the RF input signal, and to provide each copy of the multiple copies of the RF input signal to a different one of the plurality of active RF hardware units. The one or more RF signal combiners are configured to combine the multiple copies of the RF input signals into RF output signals.

A system and method for controlling uplink power to combat rain fade in satellite communication systems. First communication signals transmitted from a satellite to a satellite operations center are monitored at a gateway. A downlink attenuation level is determined for the first communication signals, and compared to an ideal attenuation level. if the downlink attenuation level exceeds the ideal attenuation level, then a corresponding uplink attenuation level is determined for a second frequency used to transmit second communication signals to the satellite, and converted to a power control command for adjusting an amplifier gain. The second communication signals are transmitted to the satellite at either a compensated power level or a normal power level, depending on whether the downlink attenuation level exceeds the ideal attenuation level.

A system for calibrating ESAs calculates a taper based on ESA element coordinates, and stores the taper as a vector matrix of gain values. The gain values are normalized by accounting for known losses by measuring a central element at minimum attenuation. The normalized gain is then a reference for every other element in the array. The other elements are then measured at various attenuations to identify an attenuation to produce the desired gain. The measurements are performed according to a bisection algorithm. Attenuation may be embodied in a set of digital register values.

Adaptive communications focal plane arrays that may be implemented in, e.g., a specially-configured camera that can be utilized to receive and/or process information in the form of optical beams are presented. A specialized focal plane array (FPA) having a plurality of optical detectors is utilized, where one or more optical detectors are suppressed such that data is not allowed to be output from the one or more suppressed optical detectors, and only a significantly smaller number or subset of optical detectors receiving optical beams are allowed to output data. In this way, the rate at which data is to be output by an adaptive communications FPA (ACFPA) can be significantly reduced.

Adaptive communications focal plane arrays that may be implemented in, e.g., a specially-configured camera that can be utilized to receive and/or process information in the form of optical beams are presented. A specialized focal plane array (FPA) having a plurality of optical detectors is utilized, where one or more optical detectors are suppressed such that data is not allowed to be output from the one or more suppressed optical detectors, and only a significantly smaller number or subset of optical detectors receiving optical beams are allowed to output data. In this way, the rate at which data is to be output by an adaptive communications FPA (ACFPA) can be significantly reduced.